Those are the four most pleasant words to a true baseball fan, and tomorrow (2/16) that’s exactly what will take place in Maryvalle AZ, when Yovani and company take the field.

Not since the early 1980’s has the outlook for the Milwaukee Brewers pitching staff looked so prosperous. Those staffs had the likes of Caldwell, Fingers, Hass, Slaton, and Vuckovich, two of which won the Cy Young Award (Fingers, Vuckovich) while in a Brewer uniform. This year’s staff include perennial ace Yovani Gallardo(14-7 3.84 ERA), and Randy Wolf (13-12 4.17 ERA) who posted a 2.67 ERA in the second half of the season last year. Add to that the off-season acquisitions of 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke (10-14, 4.17 ERA) from the Kansas City Royals, and Toronto’s Shaun Marcum (13-8, 3.64 ERA).  Round the staff off with lefty Chris Narveson and the Brewer’s fearsome fivesome is ALIVE!

The bullpen will be minus Trevor Hoffman, and basically was after May last year, that’s when the “Ax-Man,” John Axford made his emergence as the Brewer closer coming up from Triple-A Nashville and converting 24-27 save opportunities.  Others in the pen that will make a difference will be lefties Zach Braddock, and Manny Parra, and from the right, LaTroy Hawkins (shoulder surgery), Sean Green (from the Mets), Takashi Saito(from the Braves), and Kameron Loe.

Now that the pitching hints  back to the days when the “True Blue Brew Crew” banner hung in the bleachers at County Stadium, it looks like the post season is just 162 regular season games away.

Jeff Miller